U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,915 discloses a commercially successful, peristaltic type, flexible tube, metering pump assembly, which was an earlier invention of the present Applicant.
A subsequent, commercially successful, peristaltic metering pump assembly of the present Applicant varies from the aforementioned patent disclosure, as follows. A motor unit was fixed to the inside face of a cover of a housing box. The housing box cover was fixed by screws to the open front of the housing box. The motor unit was alone in a housing box and the pump unit mounted on the outside of the housing box cover. A semi-circular shield of the pump unit had a solid rear wall spaced forward (outside) from and adjacent the housing box cover, circumferential end portions fixed by screws to the outside of the housing box cover, and a foot adjacent the central peripheral wall of the pump shield and resting on the outside face of the housing box cover. A second cover was fixed to the front of the pump shield, had a semi-circular shape and size conforming to the pump shield, and a lip which overlapped rearwardly the pump shield. The second cover provided a bearing for the outboard, front end of the rotor and notches for passage of pump tube ends. Washer-like discs snugly gripped the tube ends and abutted the notched portions of the lip of the second cover to prevent tube creep in use. A rectalinear third cover of transparent plastic, partially telescoped over the front portion of the motor housing box, enclosed the pump unit (including the second cover) and had holes through which the tube ends extend. An electric power cord extended from the housing box for connection to a suitable electric supply.
While both of these prior pump assemblies have been commercially successful, the present Applicant has continued development, resulting in an improved pump assembly embodying the present invention.
Accordingly the objects and purposes of this invention include provision of a flexible tube pump assembly providing improvements over prior pump assemblies of this kind including minimization of number of parts, simplified assembly and reduced manufacturing costs.